Friday, May 30, 2008

I think this is a cool use of technology. Why people choose to share some of what they do is beyond me, but whatever... navel gazing is not a new thing. This tool can sure be used by libraries to jazz up their web page, display titles, and cover events. I very much like what the Clemens & Aleuin libraries did to show some of their material. The link with Amazon is interesting.Photos can really get across an idea or attract attention in a way that text cannot.I have an old computer at home with very slow dial-up service, so personally I won't be doing the flickr thing for awhile, though this is something I can definitely see coming back to.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

I thought I had put RSS feeds on my blogsite but again my attempts were in vain. I guess I had just posted some static info rather than live feed.Note that the times of posting are off by 2 hours. So no, I'm not up working at 6 am!

I can't believe I'm still working on this! Must have coffee, food... I got another feed going on the bottom of my blog and now am going to stop. I'm finding that it's usually not apparent what the feed url is for a site, in order to transfer it to my blog.You might notice that my two previous postings for Thing 3 are not in order. I haven't figured out how to flip flop them yet.

TMI is what I keep thinking. A person could easily withdraw from this very real, beautiful/ugly world and spend all of her time in this weird blogosphere existence. Feed me becomes the cry - I need more newsfeeds, data, details about Hollywood stars, and omg did you hear about...? OK, so RSS feeds can be useful and relevant if used judiciously.I can see how it might happen. I've already been working on this for an hour and a half, and could keep going. However, I need to start work in 1/2 hour and haven't eaten yet nor had coffee. I'd better keep myself in check here.I learned how to add links to my blog and am feeling smug at the moment. I don't really get how to view the info on my RSS feed, so I added a link on my blog and am wondering if this makes sense and how others view theirs. I think if readers click on my link they can also access my feeds. Writing this is hard because I'm using lingo and jargon that I'm not even sure if I'm using correctly. I kind of feel like one of those people whom teens would roll their eyes at, but I'm going to stick with it.

I realized my link idea doesn't work for the RSS, but I did FINALLY get Slate feed at the bottom of my blog page. I opened a Google Reader account and added 3 sources so far: Unshelved, MPR, and a coworker's blog. I haven't yet figured out how to get this feed directly on my blog though. I've spent way too much time on this, and think I'll move on to thing 4 and revisit this later.

I just finally watched, and listened to (duh, headphones in lieu of speakers) the video. I had read the other material last week, so it's not as fresh in my mind at the moment. Luddite me is wary of what is to come, but suprisingly 21st century me is stepping in more often, and I feel eager to learn this stuff.

How will we at the Duluth Public Library use what we learn and apply it in meaningful ways? The Ann Arbor idea is intriguing, as is the world of virtual reference. I attented PLA recently, and one thing I've been thinking about since then is how a public library can be an exciting community gathering place, that is truly relevant in this techy world. I know that resisting change is often futile, and really, shouldn't we be on the "cutting edge" rather than gasping to keep up?

Friday, May 23, 2008

I thought I'd never have a blog, but here we go. So far it's been fun. I wasn't thrilled with the avatar thing, but I came up with something that I feel ok about. (I thought the images were limiting as far as gender representations and roles, but I know I probably took it too seriously.)For some reason the initial template I chose would not allow me to export my avatar, so once I switched templates and easily made the transfer I felt better about things. I really like that a group of us from the DPL will be going through this together. I can't wait to see where this goes...

About Me

My name is Stacy. I work as a technician at the Duluth Public Library, live in the country on 10 acres with my partner, grow vegetables, and am on the board of directors for the Duluth Community Garden Program.